2According to the UN, 023 will most likely be the hottest year on record. As can be seen from the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) preliminary climate report published on Thursday, the global average temperature was around 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of October. The difference to the previous record years of 2016 and 2020 is already so great that the months of November and December will no longer change the global heat record.
In order to avert climate change with catastrophic consequences, the international community agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 to limit global warming to well below two degrees, but if possible to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era. According to a current UN forecast, the earth is currently moving towards a dangerous warming of 2.5 to 2.9 degrees by the year 2100 in view of the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
A return to the climate of the 20th century is no longer possible
According to the WMO, which will present its final climate report for 2023 in early 2024, the past nine years have been the nine warmest on record. The year 2023 alone has already broken a whole series of climate records, said the WMO. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, global temperatures and sea level rise have reached new highs, said WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas. The Antarctic sea ice has again declined to an all-time low.
This development is “more than just statistics,” said Taalas. “We risk losing the race to save our glaciers and curb sea level rise.” Extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts and heavy rain have also left “a trail of devastation and despair” on Earth this year.
A return to the climate of the 20th century is no longer possible, said Taalas, who demanded immediate action for more climate protection from the delegates to the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai. “We must act now to limit the risks of an increasingly inhospitable climate in this century and in the centuries to come.”
According to climate researchers, the El Niño weather phenomenon that has been ongoing since the summer also contributes to the current record temperatures. In 2024, global temperatures are “likely to continue heating up,” according to WMO forecasts.
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